Draft device for mining machines



s mecha n Patented May 5', 1925.

CHARLES E. DAVIS, 0F CHICAGQ;

ILLINOIS; AssIGNoR To GOODMAN MANUFACTURING v COMPANY, or cHICAG-o,ILLINOIS, yA CORPORATION oikiILLiNois.

' DRAFTL DEvrcE FonMiNiNG MACHINES.

Ap p-licati'lo'n ledfJIay 6,

To ZZ- whomz' may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. DAvIs,a citizenof the United States', residing at Chicago, in lthe county of-Cook vandState of Illinois, have invented Draft -Devicefor Mining Machines, ofwhich the following is aspeciicati'on. 1 rlhis invention relates to`improvements in draft devices for coal mining machines of the classadapted to be moved along thek face of the mine Wall `to cut ahorizontal kerf thereunder,r and has for its principal object to provideva means associatedwith the draft ism for coi'itrollingthe height of thehei-f.

f My; inventionhwill be best understood by c referenceto .theaccompanying `drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan view of ia miningmachine provided with a' mechanism vem.- bodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a side view hof aminingl machine. 4 n Y Figure 3 is adetailed vieu' of my invention asA applied to the pulley or kfeed ropeof thefmini'ng machine.

Figure el is a cross-section view taken on line igljof Figure 3.

Figure 5 is ay view of the rear endrof the mining machine showing amodification of my invention as applied to the retardiiig or tail rope.

Figure 6 is a vertical cross-section taken on lineG-G of Figure 5. i K

Figure 7 is aV horizontal cross-section taken Online -T of Figure 5.y

Mining machines of the class shown herein to illustrate my invention,`have as a common feature a body portion A adapted to restk onv the mineHoor, and a cutter bar B efx tending horizontallyy from the frame andcarrying a movable cutterv chain of anyapproved construction asindicated by dotted lines in `Figure l. Such machines are'provided ivitha motor 4suitably mounted on the frame A and having driving connectionwith the cutter chain, and `also having drivingconnection With asuitable draft device for moving the machine during itscuttingoperation. In the machine illustrated,l a draft device comprisesa. cable drum l driven by "the motor and carrying a` flexible cable 2called the feed rope, vadapted to be anchored at distance from themachine. A second draft device is also provided vfor retardi'ng therearend of the machine frame In the operation of n'iac'lfiines of the classabove described, it is often necessary to fol-` louY the rolling orundulating mine floor iny forming the lterf, and While so doing, thecutter bar B has a natural tendency to travel inr a liorizontalplane,predetermined\by its y position when its initiale ut is made underthe coal. Furthermore, it sometimes occurs that thecutter bar becomesdeflected fup- Wardfly from the nii-ne floor as it moves laterally,which deflection may be dueto several causes, as rfor instance, comingin contact with relatively hard'material, or on account of uneven degreeof sharpness of the cutter bits Whiclimake up the cutter chain. Onedevice heretofore used for the purpose of correcting this fault,has beenan adjustable tilting shoe forming a portion of the botto-m face of thebody portion on which the machine rests. However, such a tilting shoehas certain disadvantages7 as for instance, it interferes vwith themovement and operation of the machine, it is relatively difficult toadjust the height on account of the Weight carried thereby, and inmachines which are particularly desirablefor 4Work in extreme low veins'of coal, it has been im# practical to include such a tilting shoe in`the construction of themuchine on'account v'itli Which'the feed rope 2is adapted to be engaged. This sheave has heretofore been similarlypositioned on machines of thisk class, but hasbeen fixed in a positionsub.- stautially inthe horizontalplane of movement of the cutter chainabout the cutter bar B, that is to say, inthe position occupied by theshe'ave in :Figure 2. In the present invention, I provide means ofadjusting this sheave vertically, which means comprises a 'verticallydisposed screw shaft,k 7 threaded as shown, and mounted at its upper andlower ends in suitable brackets 8 and 9. A sleeve 10 is threaded by saidshaft and provides a bearing for the sheave 6. A guide 11 is carried bythe sleeve 10, and extends laterally from under the sheave to engage theside wall 11a of the machine. This guide serves to retain the rope 2 inengaging position with the sheave when the rope is slack, and alsorestrains the sleeve 10 against turning` on the shaft 7. A washer 12 mayloe provided for the top of the sleeve 10 so as to allow the sheave tobe removed therefrom if desired. The shaft 7 may be turned by means of awrench or similar device applied to the flattened end portion 13 of theshaft T extending upwardly and beyond the bracket 8, as shown. 1 havefound that by means of an adjustment of a few inches in the height ofthe sheave 6, the movement of the cutter bar may be deflected eitherupwardly or downwardly, as desired.

1n another arrangement shown in Figures 5, (i and 7, my invention isshown as applied to the tail rope 5, at the rear end of the machine. Itis obvious that it is not necessary to provide a machine with acontrolling` device on both the feed and the tail ropes, but botharrangements are illustrated herein to show various ways in which myinvention may be applied. The second arrangement may comprise avertically disposed shaft 14 having bearings at its upper and lower endsin suit-able brackets 15 and 16 respectively, and provided with handwheel 17 at its upper end, if desired. A sheave 1S is mounted on a stud19 carried by a `vertically movable block 20 having threaded engagementwith the shaft 14, and retained in a dove tailed slot formed byvertically disposed guide members 21, 21, attached to the rear end ofthe mining machine A. Then the tail rope is anchored in position to oneside of the machine during the cutting operation, the rope 5 may be lcddirectly to the anchor without engaging with the pulley 1S.Theoretically, it is desirable to arrange the tail rope drum 3 so thatthe tail rope 5 is paved off at a point substantially in the same planeas thecenter line of the cutter bar B so as to balance the pull of thefeed rope 2 in the opposite direction.

In order to provide a tipping` movement to the machine in addition tothat already described. the drum 3 and sheave 18 may be spaced onopposite sides of the machine, with the sheave 18 intermediate theanchor and drum, and on a line therewith, as shown. lVith thisarrangement. it will be observed that when the rope 5 is placed underthe pulley 18, the tension on the rope tends to lift the side of themachine nearest the anchor. It is obvious that the feed rope 2 might. besimilarly ar anged, that is to say, the mechanism shown in Figure 5might be used with the feed rope, if desired. ln the event that thecutter bar should assume an angular relation to the mine Hoor and startan upward cut, the rope 5 may then be led underneath the sheave 1S,moved to a position adjacent the mine floor, thereby exerting a tippingmovement to the machine frame owing` to the tension on the rope 5.

Altho I have shown and described two forms in which my invention may beembodied, it will be understood that many other means may be employedfor accomplishing the same results without departing from the spirit andscope of my invention. l do not therefor wish to be understood aslimiting myself to the specific constructions illustrated hereinexcepting as specifically limited in the appended claims.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to cover byLetters Patent, is:

L1. The combination of a mining machine having an elongated framemovable bodily along the ground and provided with suitable cuttingmechanism extending longitudinally from one end thereof. a flexibledraft means adaptedto be anchored at a distance from the machine andhaving normal connection with said machine at a predetermined verticalposition adjacent one end of said frame, a guide on said machine havingdetachable engagement with said draft means intermediate the machine anddraft anchor to dcfiect said draft means vertically from its normalpoint of connection with said machine, and other draft means connectedadjacent the opposite end of said frame and adapted to extend and beanchored in the opposite direction from said first named draft means.

2. The combination of a mining machine having an elongated frame movablebodily along the ground, and provided with suitable cuttingmechanismextending longitudinally from one end thereof, a flexible draft meansadapted to be anchored at a distance from the machine and having` normalconnectionl with said machine at a predetermined vertical positionadjacent one end of said frame, a guide on said machine having`detachable engagement with said draft means intermediate the machine anddraft anchor to deflect the same from its normal line, means foradjusting said guide vertically with respect to said cutting` mechanism,and other draft means connected adjacent the opposite end of said frameand adaptedto extend and be anchored in the opposite direction from saidfirst named draft means.

The combination of a mining` machine having suitable cutting' mechanismfor cutting a continuous lierf, a iexible draft means adapted to beanchored at a distance from the machine and having normal connection CJIwith said machine substantially yin horizontal alignment with saidcutting mechanism, means affording vertical adjustment of said draftmeans on said machine, and other draft means connected in offsetrelation with.

said first named draft means and operable on the opposite end thereof tomaintain. the frame in the desired angular relation to the mine face. yt t 4. In combination with a mining machine having suitable cuttingmechanism for cutting a kerf, a flexible draft means adapted to beanchored at a distance from the machine, a guide for said draft devicemounted on a `vertically disposed shaft, substantially in horizontalalignment with respect to said cutting mechanism, and means foradjusting said guide along said shaft, above or below said cuttingmechanism.

5. In combination with a mining machine having suitable cuttingmechanism for cutting a kerf, a flexible draft means adapted to beanchored` at a distance from the machine, a guide for said draftl meanson said machine, substantiallT in alignment with saidk cuttingmechanism, and means for moving said guide above or below said cuttingmechanism comprising a vertically disposed shaft, av bearing for saidguide having threaded engagement with said shaft, and means preventingthe rotation of said bea-r-y ing.

CHARLES E. Davis.

